a homemaking blog by Mac Fife

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Make your own reusable nursing pads!

Okay folks. With the cloth diapers and stuff, I know I’m totally turning into a homespun hippie. But I promise, it is nothing more than a reflection of my general cheapness and my determination that out new baby will have a minimal impact on our level of expendable income! That’s why I had to link to these Homemade Nursing Pads from Passionate Homemaking.

Nursing pads are expensive as heck, and I love the idea of never having to buy those ugly awful bra stuffers again! Unfortunately, they’re a fact of life if you intend to breastfeed your kiddo. Here’s the deal, though, particularly if you’re looking at this and expecting your first kiddo:

Don’t even mess with reusable until things get regulated up there. You’re likely to soak through many of the much more absorbent disposables a day! You definitely don’t want to be soaked!

I’ll be improving the recipe a bit when I make mine. Instead of flannel, I’ll be using microfiber for the absorbent core. (This stuff is SO cheap when you buy it from the automotive department and SO much more absorbent than flannel!) And I intend to use fleece not only on the side of the pad that goes against clothing, but also a thin non-pill fleece on the part that goes against my skin! After seeing how dry it keep’s my son’s bottom even in SOAKED cloth diapers, it seems like just the thing I need to stay dry and comfortable between feedings! I REFUSE to risk infection over a few dollars savings! GROSS!!!

4 thoughts on “Make your own reusable nursing pads!”

i used reusables i bought at walmart with javen and i leaked through them constantly. i will never forget…went on a little “date” with jonathan to walmart (ick, right?!) and i was wearing two shirts and had soaked through all of that and didn’t realize it until i got home and my sis-in-law pointed it out!!! major embarrassment!!! i never felt dry either, i could feel myself leaking and it was icky…not to mention i only had 5 pads so i could never keep them laundered fast enough! i was all anti-disposable at the time, because i had heard they were all plasticy and didn’t keep the skin dry.

then with ryann i thought i’d try some of the sample ones i’d gotten in a freebie bag of new mom goodies…and the lansinoh brand ones were awesome! they had adhesive so they stayed put, i never once leaked through one (and i’m a leaker, even 11 months into BFing!), i couldn’t feel myself leaking or getting soggy, they kept me super dry, and they didn’t look all lumpy and cancer-boob-ish under my tops! i discovered i could get them on the cheapy cheap via amazon and they came right to my front door…it truly was heavenly! the ol’ nips were grateful too, because with javen all that moisture on my skin meant constant cracking and bleeding for TWO WHOLE MONTHS until he decided he was anti-boob. it was a relief to not have constant nipple pain!

but if your microfiber booby pads work well, you will really be ahead of the game! if i ever have another kid, i might need to pay you to make me a pair so i can take ’em for a test drive! let’s have a follow-up post about these after baby comes and you put them to use!

Also, have you ever seen what’s inside disposable nursing pads? They’re like these weird expanding plastic bead things! There’s no way you can get that absorbent with cloth. There’s no technology for that. Also, I had that embarrassing shirt situation happen to me twice WITH soaked disposables!!!

At least for me, this is definitely a further down the road after me and Baby Brother have found our groove sort of project. But, when that time comes, I’m thinking it’ll save me maybe another $20 a month? Of course, I payed prime prices for my pads with Sammy, because I never realized I was running low until the last minute, then I’d have to run to the Rite Aid next door to buy them for almost twice what they cost from Walmart! I’m not very organized! LOL!

Fair game! I had difficulty with either the disposables or, ehem, other things, showing through my bras, and I tried EVERY brand! I’m hoping that when I make my own, I can customize them to give me the discretion I desire. I was also interested in LilyPads at Target, but the reviews made me think they wouldn’t work so great for my own situation.

I’ve had this tutorial in my back pocket for some time, but seeing how dry Sam’s bottom is staying in those cloth diapers this week is how I’ve decided reusable nursing pads really could be a viable option. I’ve never had thrush, but it scares the daylights out of me! I totally don’t trust sogginess just sitting there against my skin like that!

i’m not always organized either, which is why ordering diapers and nursing pads off amazon turned out to be a major lifesaver for me as a mom of two! i’m still thrilled with the notion of ordering diapers when i put the last few dozen into the diaper basket, only to have the next 200 show up on my front porch in 48 hours, well before they’re needed!

i always assumed that the innards of disposable pads was similar to the innards of a disposable diaper, just on a smaller scale perhaps. i looked into those lilypads…the idea of just silicone keeping me from springing a leak seemed ridiculous, knowing how i gushed like ol’ faithful the first time around. they might have worked for me after those first couple months, but i am a “stick with what works” gal so i forked out my $6 a month for pads i could toss, haha!